IN THE JUNGLE... THE MIGHTY JUNGLE.....

the birthday boy was chaulked up on sugar and had a ridulously good time, and there were 16 kids ages ranging from one to nine and not one single fight, and he got so many gifts that we are only letting him play with a couple new ones a week... and then Brigham slept sooooosoo well that night!!!

weeeeeee oh weeee oh wimba wayyyyyyyy ~~~~ so remember those adorable passport invites that I sent out?? well, I was ecstatic that 8 out of 10 moms sent them back with the kids cute little pics placed in them!!! I love that I have these keepsakes of all the kids that came to his party!
(sorry bout the pics.. some of these were taken by my moms camera...bad resolution..ick!.. and I didn't take time to pp them!!LOL)

a bit of decor.... the snakes really freaked my husband out...

thanks to my dad for blowing up about 40 balloons, that we had clustered around! Loved these animal print ones!!

the tiger was one of the many animals hiding in the 'jungle weeds' of my garden which the kids had to find on their exploration

pin the tail on the tiger , but of course .. always a fan favorite!

Brigham surrounded by his friends has he opened presents

some cute lil safari girls....

the kids all got pith hats as they entered the party

and it was so cute how many of them were decked out in safari.. or jungle animal themed gear!

and we had monkeys hanging around

and swinging from vines

and parrots in the trees

and vines.....

and an elephant slide in a jungle pool.... the trunk sprayed water... another fan favorite

and a monkey peeeanta(as brigham calls it...lol)

and a display of my 4 year old boy - =)

the goody bags.... jungle animal suckers, stickers, bubbles, pencils, candy and noisemakers...

a giraffe migrated over from the plains... to join in the party

the king of the jungle

the food.....ants on a log....hippo sandwiches....tropical fruit salad.....

monkeys trying to swipe the snake eggs(grapes) ..hippo sandwhiches.... orange monkey mix(cheetos chips mix)

our Food Stop

a banner that I made that you can't see very well.... happy birthday...maybe click on it to make bigger?

the hippos peanut butter and jelly for the kids...

tropical fruit mix and the buns for our 'wild boar' meat sandwhiches....aka... pulled pork!

warnings as you entered ....

Hope you've enjoyed your tour!!!

re couping!!

The party was a HUGE success on Saturday... and we celebrated his actual birthday yesterday... and then I just got finished hosting a baby shower for my friend Sarah who is due in less than a week!!!


so needless to say... I am exhausted from prepping for the party.. cleaning from the party.. prepping for tonights party, and then cleaning up from tonight...
I have tons of fabulous pictures.... from our jungle safari..... so stay tuned !

thanks for visiting, have a great day!

CURDLED MILK, and other randomitities

randomitities... is it a word? I think I have head it before... oh, well..its a word to me. the moldy milk thing... we are well into the sippy cup stage and with that comes the countless cups of chunky=somewhat yellowish-greenish-color-and totally rancidness found throughout the house, car , and notoriously in the diaper bag. gag me. totally.



(the above sippy cup may or may not have contained chunky milk)



and so since I have just spoken as if I am in the 80's ...I will move on to the randomitities...( ok, I just like saying that..though its a bit tough to type..lol)

*Brigham is into his second session of swim lessons. We entered into them two weeks ago, a bit skeptical.. would he put his feet in the water? After several hotel trips this past winter, where we tried to lure him in with numerous new toys, the boy just wouldn't budge.

well I was shocked to find him with his feet in the water on the first day!!

he managed to get some more body parts wet, however, would not stop clutching the wall, when it was 'life jacket day' and they were in 'hannah's pool'(the med size pool that his friend took lessons in )

so since he was not moved up, and recommended to stay in the 'tiny' pool, we are back at it again.

His little friend Isabel, who we have not seen for awhile, is also in his class.

We're crossing our fingers that the face will get wet, and he will get moved up. Andrew is just happy that I am there with the camera, to catch the teacher..I mean his son, in action!

* I am busily NO, stressily(just made that up) prepping for Brighams 4th bday party this weekend. We're going with a jungle safari theme. so these are the invitations I whipped up.

and hopefully the parents will heed my instruction and fill out the lil' pass ports with their kid's picture in it. It is their admittance into the party after all.

and so if you click on the inside, you can read the party info. Though I would like a RSVP. apparently in the last few years, its been deemed completely unnecessary to respond whether you are OR are not attending a birthday party, baby shower, wedding,picnic, or any other type of gathering, There may or may not be a pith hat or piece of lion cake for you.

just sayin'.

*and speaking of cakes... I don't think I have shared any pics of the cakes I've done with my business.

ok, so its not much of a business. but I have done like 15 cakes since September. and I have been paid. and I Do have a name. and business cards.

but mostly its just fun. did the giraffe one for our Lifegroup babyshower a couple weeks ago.. and this other one for a friends daughter turning six. we were introduced to the Cheetah girls. there was a dance contest and a karaoke contest. Brigham, won the dance contest, complete with a Hannah Montana wig on!*and speaking of business... while I did not plan for this,( SERIOUSLY, JENNIFER, you know what I was thinking, )... I have been getting lots of positive feedback on my picture taking, and therefore, several people are asking for me to take their kids, babies, families.
Well, in my opinion, I can use as much practice as I can get , so I am happily taking on the fun of smiley people other than my family.
Someone asked me if I was going to start charging....at this point, I don't think my photos are paying- money -for -worthy. I am still learning... but say in 6 months from now, maybe. right now its a hobby turned obession!!
and so, since people are asking, then I have inquired about a logo. my friend Greg is a graphic designer and is helping me set one up. He also has been talking with me about getting a website(since he makes those too) up. I have had some ideas in mind that I have gotten from the Orange Gecko lady on 2peas. I just want a place where I can set up galleries and stuff , so people can order from what I have taken.
and since I don't want to lug my diaper bag around with me anymore, I dropped hints about this:
that Andrew got me for mother's day. I absolutely LOVE it. you can get one, or choose from the many other gorgeous bags that she has here.

its got great pockets for my ever growing lens collection..(ok I have two-soon-to-be-three) and you can get a cute little strap to match or in a matchy match pattern.*been busy playing with my camera. Here are some from a couple weeks ago, at the park and in my living room. My friend Jennifer helped give me some pointers. I am really happy with how these ONE year old pics turned out! (though, I hope you know, Jenn, that you're missing out, b/c I totally would have paid YOU to take them =)
and I did have three other of my favorites posted. but accidentally deleted them, and know blogger is now playing nicely and letting me add them in here. i don't have the patience to re load and rearrange everything, so I may just do another tribute to my baby girl later.

*and in the spirit of picture taking, I did some scrapping. actually had these pictures back from March when I did a make shift photo shoot in my living room. She was miserable. but I LOVE these pictures. Am I a bad mama because crying baby pics, melt me? that's Tatum doing her arm 'thang' .. she's been doing since about 5 months old. I totally have a page worked up (in my mind) for her little 'thang'!!

* Andrew has been working overtime for the last week and a half, which means I am about to put my self in the loony bin. 12 straight hours, for 7 days is a bit much. I do not envy single moms one bit. but I totally respect the dedication that they put in to juggling work and home.all the time.

*we bought a new dryer last week. Our last one was burning our clothes.ICK. so instead of replenishing our wardrobes, which is what I suggested, we went with Andrew's idea of buying a new one. So Andrew's friend Greg came by last night and help installed it. and today I am doing loads and loads of laundry. SO thankful that I submitted to the wishes of my husband.Eck!

*the 4th of July was full of memories. except I hardly captured any of them. I charged up my camera and headed off to the park.... with NO memory card. I am patiently waiting pictures that Greg took of the kids at our annual parade in the park and the cookout at my moms.

I was able to get this classic pic, when we got together later that evening.

LOVE that the girls are huddled in fear, and Brigham isn't going to admit he is scared enough to put BOTH hands over his ears!!

*sparkler fun. the lighting was really tough, because we were camped out under these big stadium lights. We had been at a bbq at my brothers for about an hour and then met up with Greg and Kelli for a KFC picnic and fireworks. We had plenty of space for all kinds of games and stuff. and we didn't have people on top of us.plus, we were really close to the fireworks setting off guy.

(though I was informed, they don't have little guys setting them off- they use computers. who would have known?LOL)

* Tatum has had enough of the party


* Tatum is trying to conceal the two HUGE potato wedges, that she swiped from Mr. Carter's plate.

* and a re- inactment of Brig on his bike for the morning parade. My mom's neighborhood does this block party, and all the kids decorate their bikes(Hannah and Kiley braved their scooters) and then they ride up and down the street.. eat watermelon, and freeze pops and play in the park. This is the second year that we've done this with the Kouts and then we go back to my mom's house for a few hours to cook out. and have our traditional brownie sundaes,as requested by Greg.lol

* we just got our baseball tickets for our vacation in St. Louis. I can't believe we leave in a little over 2 weeks!! I sure hope that its dried out by the time we get there.

we had bad storms through the area again last night. I always wanted to have a lake house, and maybe with all this rain, I'll get one!!

( and now I am feeling really in sensitive to all the people who actually did lose their homes due to the flooding.not to make light of what they are going thru)

* kids are napping so I am heading to the garden to plant in about a dozen new things a got. I am always frustrated about half way thru the summer, when the first blooms are all done, and the other's haven't started yet. My dad came over and helped spread a driveway full of mulch on Saturday. So now the tricky task of digging and planting without disrupting the 'prettyness'.

well, I have gabbed enough.. hope you are all having a great week!

evidence of God

here are some of the reminders of the amazing gifts that are all around us. I love the summer when all the scents and color so boldly remind me that God is Good.
in my garden:

He is all around us. and having a nearly 4 year old constantly asking questions and eager to learn about the world, gives me the chance to 'look for myself' at my surroundings and bask in the awesomeness of what we have been given here on earth.. all because our Father in heaven loves us SO incredibly much.

we went to brigham's best friend Hannah's birthday party on saturday... my only other friend who goes crazy with themes... did a bang up job with a fun 'rainbow' theme. everything was so cute!

and of course we got to tell Brigham about rainbows... why God sent one after the flood... and then Sunday when we were getting ice cream with grandpa, we saw a rainbow!!

pretty cool, I didn't have my camera .. WHAT was I thinkng??!!!

Andrew and I celebrated our FIFTH wedding anniversary!! WOW!! although are grandiose plans got put on hold since we're going on vacation in a month, we still had a nice dinner out at our favorite Italian restaurant. sat on the patio. the weather was perfect. and then we went to see GET SMART... pretty funny, but just ok. and then for drinks.

Five years later , I am finally getting that life isn't random. that my husband was perfectly created and chosen for ME. And even though I tried to change the heck out of him, as soon as we started dating... GOD knew that too!! LOL. We are perfectly meshed and compliment each other so well. and you can read my husbands thought on this here. (yeah, he has a blog!! the husband who made fun of me for two years for blogging, has crossed to the darkside!!LOL)

And because of our marriage we have been seriously blessed beyond our wildest dreams with our two kiddos.

my family. love them to pieces.

and I am thinking that I may have been blessed with a tad bit of talent.. b/c I am getting such encouragement from my picture taking !! I have had 4 people in the last week ask me to take maternity, kids, baby, and family!! I can't say how much of a blast I am having with 'other people's kids..and God's right there too... teaching me patience and self control for sure!! LOL

ETA: my husband has informed me that brigham looks green... well, husband, (and anyone else who thinks he's got the flu...)well, I purposely creatively edited him, with blueish hues...just playin'!!

(cuz with brig and tate, I can scream, and boss and be a big meany!!)

and as I sit in the comfort of my home, while it may not be a dream home, its comfy and cozy and I am lucky to have the safety of our subdivision(yes, we can leave our doors un locked...SHHHH.) I know that I am provided for. above and beyond.

through, clothing, shelter, food, friends, family, talents, comfort... sometimes I don't feel worthy... and I KNOW that I sometimes(more than not) take it for granite.

and the biggest way, is through His word.. our church is so phenomenal about teaching scripture and totally making it relevant to our lives . Our lifegroup discussion has been incredible.

My spiritual faith has grown leaps and bounds in such a short time. I am SO thankful for finally taking the promptings, that were so clearly given for the last year or so. God was leading us to an amazing place in our new church. Sometimes I secretly wish we would have taken those promptings more seriously, and we would have been saved a whole lot of grief, stress and sadness. But then again, we trust that we are right where God wants us. and it was his timing and HIS plan after all.!! LOL

whooops, didn't mean to go all churchy on ya'll. but I guess, I would say .. stop for a minute, and look around at this awesome world we live in.. that was created just for us... because God loves us that much....and even when we screw up.. He's still there loving us.

so tell me, where do YOU see evidence of God in your life?